Certified Margolis Method Faculty

Meet our amazing faculty. All of the artists teaching at the Center have trained extensively with Kari Margolis for periods of five years or longer, most for more than ten years. They have an in-depth knowledge of the Method and maintain the same challenging, yet supportive artistic studio environment on which the training is based. Faculty members have been artistic contributors and performers in MB ADAPTORS professional touring productions. Several faculty members also run their own workshops in other cities and create and perform original works. You will also meet faculty at workshops assisting Kari. During the Summer Session, faculty will direct performances pieces with all training artists.

JAROD HANSON

Jarod Hanson is Lead Faculty at the Center, and is out to change the landscape of theatre through the Margolis Method’s empowering approach to three-dimensional actor training. He began his studies at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, where he attained his BA in Theatre Arts, and first intersected with Kari Margolis. Soon, he was training under Kari both at the University and with the Margolis Method Center’s weekly classes and Summer Intensives. He has toured internationally as a professional actor with the ADAPTORS (Sleepwalkers, American Safari, The Human Show, Cyclopedia, and Pulling Strings note a few of his collaborations with the company), and has assisted Master Teacher Kari Margolis at workshops, residencies, and master classes across the nation. He officially joined the ranks of faculty at the Center in 2011, where he continues to hone his own skills and help develop the many exciting projects on the horizon for the Center.

JONATHAN BELLER

Jonathan Beller is a director, producer, and performer. He is a member of the MB ADAPTORS Company, having contributed to the creation and performance of their most recent production, Pulling Strings. Along with his Professional Certiﬁcation studies, Jonathan has completed the Level III Professor Training Program. He has assisted Kari at several workshops including serving as an Assistant Director to the Insula project created in residence at Montclair State University. Prior to joining MB ADAPTORS, Jonathan served as the Artistic Director of Theatrikos Theatre Company of Northern Arizona where he produced and directed over 75 productions–canonical plays, re-imaged classics and new work from local and national playwrights. He holds an MFA from Arizona State University and currently teaches theatre at Schenectady College where the Margolis Method is at the center of the program’s actor training curriculum.

IAN BIVINS

As a Theatre Artist, Ian Bivins is devoted to transforming the mainstream approach to theatre education as well as bringing new creative ideas to one of humanity's oldest rituals. Ian received a BA in Theatre Arts from Western Washington University in 2002, where he created and produced several solo works. He relocated to Highland Lake, NY in 2004 to pursue his certification in Margolis Method. He has performed in several of the company’s original evening length shows; most notably, Cyclopedia, which toured nationally in Fall, 2008. Ian has assisted Kari at several major national and international workshops including the Kennedy Center's American College Theatre Festival and the Cos Festival in Reus Spain.

He currently serves on faculty for the Margolis Method Center’s International Summer Training Intensive. Ian also teaches and oversees operations of Margolis Method Bellingham, a satellite school of the Center, located in Bellingham, WA.

KYM LONGHI

While Kym’s three decades of performing and directing experience range from classical speaking theater to experimental theater, her passion is creating highly physical theatrical work through collaborative process. As a featured performer with Margolis Brown ADAPTORS Company from 1994 - 2006, Kym participated in the development of The Bed Experiment, The Human Show, Vanishing Point, Vidpires!, and Starry Messenger. She is currently active in the Twin Cities' vibrant theatre community - acting, directing and developing new work. Recent directing projects include She Myth (Big Wingz Productions), It is She Who I See (Interference Arts), and Herocycle (FTF Works), for which she received a 2012 Minnesota State Arts Board Artist Initiative Grant. Upcoming projects include Maggie's Brain (Offleash Area) and Blue/Doll/House/Beard (RedEye's Works-in-Progress). Kym is affiliate faculty at the University of Minnesota, where she has taught Margolis Method since 2001.

GREGORY G. SCHOTT

Gregory G. Schott received his BA in Acting and Directing from UNLV where he helped create and develop numerous original productions and began his professional career in Las Vegas. Early on, he worked extensively in musical and children’s theater performing with such companies as Diamond Circle Melodrama, Climb and Rainbow Company Children’s Theater. He first began training with MB Adaptors in 1996 and began teaching at the school in 2000. He was a key artistic contributor to the MB ADAPTORS productions of American Safari, Sleepwalkers, The Human Show and Cyclopedia. Gregory most recently toured with In Search of Tonto Blue and Pulling Strings as both an actor and technical director. He has assisted Kari at residencies across the country and is very proud to be a faculty member at Margolis Method Center International.

Certifying Margolis Method Faculty

The Professional Certification Program is a rigorous individualized program open to artists who have an extensive knowledge of Margolis Method. To be eligible to enter the program, artists must have a minimum of 750 hrs. of general training with Kari Margolis or a Certified teacher, along with professional performance experience. There are three levels of certification that offer teaching artists different professional opportunities. Level I: allows artists to assist at the Margolis Method Center or at workshops and residencies led by Certified teachers. Level II: allows artists to lead classes at the Center or workshops organized with the Center. Level III: allows artists to establish their own workshops and training centers. All Margolis Method teachers continue to train with Kari Margolis and stay connected to the heart of the organization’s programs and growth.

BORIS DAUSSÀ-PASTOR

Boris Daussà-Pastor is a performer, director, and theatre scholar from Barcelona. He started training with Kari Margolis in 2005 and he has been involved in a number of creative and pedagogic projects related to Margolis Method and MB ADAPTORS. He is currently professor and Head of the Theatre Theory and History Department at Institut del Teatre in Barcelona, as well as Head of Graduate Studies. He earned a Theatre MA degree from Hunter College, and taught at Hunter College and Brooklyn College for four years. He is currently a PhD candidate working on a dissertation about Margolis Method. He has published several articles in academic journals as well as a training guide for kathakali body-exercise routine. He is an active member of the international academic community, currently serving at the Executive Committee of the International Federation for Theatre Research (FIRT/IFTR). Boris is active in theatre in Barcelona and abroad. He is assistant director and movement assistant for the award-winning theatre company Dei Furbi, from Barcelona. He is currently leading an effort with Master teacher Kari Margolis to open a Margolis Method school and performance ensemble in Barcelona.

GEMA SALA

Gema Sala is an Actress, Director and Drama Teacher. She graduated from Collegi de Teatre de Barcelona in 2002. After graduation she continued her studies with different techniques and all forms of clowning and studied with Fernando Piernas in Madrid. She has performed with La Guapa Teatre in the Muntaner Theater and in the Raval Theater. From 2011 to 2013 she was part of the Vaca Project and participated at the festivals Primavera y Octubre Vaca. During her career she has also worked in Television and in Cinema. Her commitment to the theater has brought her to teach for the last 4 years at the Social Community of Foment Hortench. The research of the actor and its place in the theater brought her in to contact with Kari and the Margolis Method in 2009 in Barcelona. She has continued her Margolis Method training in Barcelona and New York and was a creative contributor and performer in MB ADAPTORS production HEADSHOT, in both Barcelona and New York.

NÚRIA OLIVÉ

Núria Olivé Casanova is a performer, director and acting teacher. She graduated in theatre from the Institut Del Teatre de Barcelona in 2000. From an early age she searched for a connection between physical expression and vocal work, which led her to continue studying after graduating in movement and creative work: biomechanics with Nikolai Karpov, corporeal mime with Anne Dennis , and puppetry with different master teachers. In 2007 she took her first workshop with Kari Margolis in Barcelona, and found in Margolis Method the kind of work she was seeking. In 2009, she traveled to New York to study with Kari Margolis and since then she has been training in the Margolis Method both in Barcelona and the United States. In 2015, she was a creative contributor and performer in MB ADAPTORSHEADSHOT! production in Barcelona and New York. Presently Núria works with LA CENTRAL SCHOOL OF THEATRE, in Manresa, Barcelona, and she creates and performs as an actress andpuppeteer in different companies, including Engurna Teatre, cia Raul Grau, Companyia B, and Produccions Essencials.

ERIK HOOVER

Erik Hoover trained with the Margolis-Brown Theater Company before joining as a company member in 2001. He participated in the development of and performed in three original, company-devised productions: Sleepwalkers, American Safari, and The Human Show, which toured as far away as Reus, Spain. Erik is active in the Minneapolis theater community as an actor, movement coach and teaching artist, and has recently begun to direct. He continues to collaborate and perform with several companies, including Walking Shadow, Sandbox Theatre, Theatre Novi Most, Theatre Pro Rata, Park Square, Pillsbury Square, and FTF Works. Erik’s performances have been recognized by Minnesota Playlist and Lavender magazines. Along with Kym Longhi, he recently staged Herocycle, an original production that melded Evel Knievel’s exploits with Joseph Campbell’s meditations on the archetypal hero.